Improvement in hanging carriage-bodies



2 Sheets-Sheet; 1.

E. LANE.

Carriage-Spring.

Patented June 2, 1863.

Wi /M N.F'ETERS, PHDTDLITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D C,

'E. LANE- (Jarrjage spring.

-Zrareza 6%? NAETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D 0v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented June 2, 1863.

NrTE STATES- PATENT i ricn.

IMPROVEMENT lN HANGING CARRIAGE-BODIES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,751, dated June 2, 1863.

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD LANE, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Hanging Carriage-Bodies; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to an improvement in that mode of hangingcarriage-bodies in which levers hung to the body, and connected at one end to the axles and at the other to springs, are used; and my improvement consists in hanging the body of a vehicle to the front and rear axles of the same by means of gum-elastic springs, levers, and rods arranged in the manner described hereinafter, the springs of each lever being independent of those of the other levers, so that the motion ot'thecarriagebody, on traversing uneven roads, may be of an easy undulating character, and free from the disagree able jolts which result from the manner heretofore adopted of connecting two or more of the levers to one spring.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertical section of suflicient of a carriage to illustrate my improved mode of hanging the body to the axles; Fig. 2, a trans verse vertical section, and Fig. 3 an inverted plan View, of the carriage, drawn to a reduced scale.

Similarlettcrs refer to similar parts throughout the several views,

A is the body of the carriage, which may be varied in form, f being the seat supported in front bya cross-bar, I. To the under side, and toward the front of the carriage-body, are secured the two hangers, G O, and toward the rear of the body, and to the under side of the same, are secured two similarhangers, C C. To a pin, 1), passing through the lower portion of each hanger 0, is hung a lever, D, the front end of both levers being connected to the front axle, B. Alever, D, is in like manner hung to the pin I) of each of the rear hangers, O O, the rear ends of the two levers being connected to the rear axle, B, of the carriage. To suitable staples e, or their equivalents, secured to the under side of the cross-bar I, are suspended four annular springs, of gum-elastic, each spring being connected to one of the levers. Thus each of the front levers, D D, is connected to one of the springs H H by means of a rod, G, the upper end of which is forked, a pin passing through the forked end and through one of the springs. In like manner each of the levers D is connected by a rod, G, to one of the springs H. H.

It is well known that gum-elastic is an ap propriate material for carriage-springs, and that it has heretofore been applied in various forms to that purpose, the body of the carriage in some instances resting directly on the spring so as to compress the same, while in other instances thebody has been hung to the springs so that the latter are submitted to a tensile strain. This latter mode of applying gumelastic springs is the most appropriate for light carriages, wagons, &c., for the reason that the springs when subjected to a tensile strain will yield more gently and easily than when subjected to compression, and for the further reason that the recoil of a stretched spring will be less sudden and abrupt than that of a compressed spring.

It is important in all light carriages that the yielding of the body, when uneven roads are traversed, should be easy, and free from the sudden jolts 'and'bounds which are a source of annoyance to the passengers. As the body must yield more or less, th it yielding should be of an easy undulating character, and free from sudden vertical depressions and recoils.

In suspending carriage-bodies to gum-elastic springs during my first experiments, two springs only were used, one front and one rear lever being connected to one spring, and the other front lever and rear lever to the other spring. In other words, two levers, D and D,

were connected to one single sprin g, instead of ing over an obstruction on the road, the body.

would yield as though both front and rear wheels were passing over similar obstructions, for if the levers D and D be connected to the same spring, the movement of one lever, and consequent tension of the spring, must be the cause of the movement of the other. Hence if one wheel only passed over an obstruction, a sudden vertical depression must be imparted to the body. When the several levers, however, are connected toindependent springs,the case is different, as will be readily seen on reference to Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings. The rear wheel, 00, (shown in red lines,) is about passing over an obstruction on the road, while the front wheel, 00, is traversing a smooth surface. The rear end of the lever D must be depressed and the spring H stretched, the corner of the body of the carriage nearest to the rear wheehx, being consequently depressed, the opposite front corner of the body nearest to the wheel 00, however, will remain undisturbed,for the reason that the said front wheel is on level ground, the lever D consequently remaining unmoved, and its spring H unstretched. When one rear wheel is passing over an obstruction and the other rear Wheel is on smooth ground, that one of the springs H which is nearest to the obstructed wheel will be stretched to an extent depending upon the nature of the obstruction while the other spring will be but little affected. The same remarks will apply to the two front wheels. It will be seen, therefore, without further description, that by connecting the levers to independent springs, the motion of the body of the carriage on traversing uneven roads must be of the desired undulating character.

I am aware that carriage-bodies have been suspended to gunrela-stic springs, connected to the axles through the medium of levers hung to the body, an instance of which arrangement may be seen in the application of L. Ainsworth, rejected and withdrawn August 3, 1848. I am also aware that a spring or springs have been arranged beneath the seat of a carriage, and connected by levers to the axles, as in the patent of John Jones, July 22, 1851, metallic springs being used in this instance. A somewhat similar device is exhibited in the application of J. Walter and H. O. St. John, rejected and withdrawn September 4, 1846. I am not aware, however, that in thus hanging carriage-bodies t0 the axles through the medium of springs and levers one spring has been devoted to each lever.

I therefore limit my claim to and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Hanging the body of a vehicle to the front and rear axles of the same by means of the gum-elastic springs H H and H H, the levers D D and D D, the rods Gr Gr and G G, or their equivalents, arranged as set fortl1,when the spring of one lever is independent of the springs of the other levers, as described, for the purpose specified,

In testimony whereot'I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

E. LANE.

Witnesses HENRY HowsoN, CHARLES HOWSON. 

